[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 110 (Thursday, June 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48396-48397]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12438]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XE013]


New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC) 
will hold a four-day hybrid meeting with both in-person and remote 
participation to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in 
the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and 
Thursday, June 24-27, 2024, beginning at 1 p.m. on Monday and 9 a.m. on 
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn, 5 Park 
Street, Freeport, ME 04032; telephone: (207) 865-1433; online at 
https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/pwmfdgi-hilton-garden-inn-freeport-downtown/. Join the webinar at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7044747360305110105.
    Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone (978) 465-0492; 
www.nefmc.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cate O'Keefe, Executive Director, New 
England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492, ext. 
113.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Agenda

Monday, June 24, 2024

    The Council will begin this meeting with brief announcements, 
followed by reports on recent activities from the Council's Chair and 
Executive Director, the GARFO Regional Administrator, the NOAA Office 
of General Counsel, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) 
Director, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council liaison, and 
representatives from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission 
(ASMFC), the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement, the 
Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel, and the Advisory Committee to 
the U.S. Section of the International Commission for the Conservation 
of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The Council then will receive a brief report 
on the status of the On-Demand Fishing Gear Conflict Working Group's 
activities. As the last order of business for the day, the Council will 
hear from its Atlantic Herring Committee, which will: (1) provide a 
summary of public comments received during scoping meetings conducted 
for Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan; and 
(2) enter into an initial discussion on specifications for the 2025, 
2026, and 2027 fishing years for Atlantic herring.

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

    The Council will begin the second day of its meeting by considering 
updates to its 2022-26 Research Priorities and determining a schedule 
for future updates. The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee 
(SSC) will provide input on the research priorities. Next, the Council 
will receive an overview of the day's climate/ecosystem-related 
discussion items, which will begin with: (1) a presentation on projects 
funded under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), coupled with a broad 
overview of the initial draft workplan; and (2) a report from the May 
2024 East Coast Climate Coordination Group meeting, including further 
details regarding IRA-funded climate/ecosystem projects. The Council 
then will receive a presentation on NOAA's Climate, Ecosystems, and 
Fisheries Initiative (CEFI) and discuss how this initiative can be 
integrated into fishery management.
    Following the lunch break, the Council will receive a presentation 
on the 2024 State of the Ecosystem Report for New England, followed by 
SSC input on the report and overall discussion. Next, the Council will 
hear from its Risk Policy Working Group. The Council will review and 
provide feedback on a draft revised Risk Policy and provide further 
direction to the working group. The SSC also will provide input on the 
draft Risk Policy. Following the adjournment of official business, the 
Council will host a public outreach session to foster open lines of 
communication among Council members, staff, industry, and all meeting 
attendees. This event will be held in the same hotel as the meeting 
itself--the Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport, ME--in the lobby area.

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

    The Council will lead off the third day of its meeting with an 
overarching discussion of ecosystem-based fishery management (EBFM) and 
ecosystem approaches to fishery management (EAFM). The Council will: 
(1) discuss the path forward to consider EAFM for incremental action 
across all Council fishery management plans; (2) consider the structure 
of its current Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management Committee and EBFM 
Plan Development Team; and (3) discuss alternatives to the current 
committee/PDT structure given other ongoing ecosystem/climate 
activities. The Council then will hear about fishery independent 
surveys and survey mitigation, beginning with an update on the 
Northeast Fisheries Science Center's fishery independent surveys. The 
Science Center's update will cover: (1)

[[Page 48397]]

NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow contingency plans; and (2) industry-based 
surveys. The Council then will receive comments from a subpanel of its 
SSC regarding a peer review of NEFSC's draft survey mitigation plans 
relative to offshore wind. An opportunity for Council questions and 
comments will follow. The Habitat Committee then will provide an 
offshore wind update, which will cover the proposed lease sale in the 
Gulf of Maine Wind Energy Area and other offshore wind developments. 
The committee also will provide other habitat updates, including a 
brief status report on the Essential Fish Habitat Review.
    Following the lunch break, members of the public will have the 
opportunity to speak during an open comment period on issues that 
relate to Council business but are not included on the published agenda 
for this meeting. The Council asks the public to limit remarks to 3-5 
minutes. These comments will be received both in person and through the 
webinar. A guide for how to publicly comment through the webinar is 
available on the Council website at https://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/NEFMC-meeting-remote-participation_generic.pdf. The Council then will 
receive a presentation on: (1) adopted changes to the U.S./Canada 
Transboundary Resources Assessment Committee and Transboundary 
Management Guidance Committee process--known as the TRAC/TMGC process; 
and (2) next steps for addressing assessment updates for shared U.S./
Canada fishery resources on Georges Bank. The Council then will hear 
from NOAA General Counsel on Council and National Marine Fisheries 
Service procedural differences for fishery management plans, 
amendments, framework adjustments, and specifications. The Groundfish 
Committee will be up next. The Council will review public input and a 
draft report from three public workshops conducted this spring on the 
Atlantic Cod Management Transition Plan. A discussion on next steps 
will follow. The Council also will receive a progress report on 
Amendment 25, which is an action to incorporate four new Atlantic cod 
stock units into the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery 
Management Plan. Finally, the Council will initiate Framework 
Adjustment 69 to set specifications for several groundfish stocks for 
fishing years 2025-27, U.S./Canada total allowable catches (TACs) for 
2025-26, and incorporate revisions to flatfish sub-annual catch limits 
(sub-ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs). The Council then will 
adjourn for the day.

Thursday, June 27, 2024

    The Council will lead off the final day of its meeting with the 
Scallop Committee report. First, the Council will discuss and act on 
three items related to the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. 
These are: (1) RSA updates for inclusion in Council Operations 
Handbook; (2) shifting to a two-year RSA priority-setting schedule 
versus annual priority-setting; and (3) 2025 and 2026 scallop RSA 
priorities. The Council then will receive several other scallop-related 
updates, including: (1) a progress report on changes to flatfish 
accountability measures for the scallop fishery; (2) a brief update on 
the five-year review of the Limited Access General Category Individual 
Fishing Quota Program; and (3) an overview of ongoing scallop survey 
work. The Council also will initiate Framework Adjustment 39 to the 
Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. This framework will 
include 2025 fishery specifications, 2026 defaults, flatfish AM 
changes, and other measures. Next, the Council will discuss 
developments to an omnibus framework adjustment to potentially 
authorize scallop fishery access to the Closed Area II Habitat 
Management Area on the Northern Edge of Georges Bank. The Council will 
take action or provide further direction on the preparation of 
management alternatives for the omnibus framework. Following this 
discussion, the Council may receive a presentation from NOAA Fisheries 
on a proposed rule for updating National Standard Guidelines 4, 8, and 
9. If so, the Council will have an opportunity to ask questions and 
provide comments. This agenda item is dependent on publication of the 
proposed rule prior to the meeting and may be postponed to a later date 
if the proposed rule is not available. The Council then will close out 
the meeting with other business.
    Although non-emergency issues not contained on this agenda may come 
before the Council for discussion, those issues may not be the subject 
of formal action during this meeting. Council action will be restricted 
to those issues specifically listed in this notice and any issues 
arising after publication of this notice that require emergency action 
under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's 
intent to take final action to address the emergency. The public also 
should be aware that the meeting will be recorded. Consistent with 16 
U.S.C. 1852, a copy of the recording is available upon request.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Executive Director Cate O'Keefe (see ADDRESSES) 
at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: June 3, 2024.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-12438 Filed 6-5-24; 8:45 am]
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